Street-network Sprawl in San Pedro de las Colonias, Mexico

What is Street-network sprawl?

Street-network Sprawl is a way to measure urban sprawl, worldwide, through the connectedness of the streets. Less sprawl means more connected, more walkable streets. Well-connected streets – like New York City’s grid – are more walkable and can be served by public transit.

The street network is permanent, and its connectivity affects the livability and environmental footprint of cities for decades and centuries to come. In places with more connected streets, residents drive less and walk more. A well-connected street network is associated with better outcomes for health, the environment, sustainable consumption, social integration, and equity.

We can quantify how connected street networks are with the Street Network Disconnectedness Index (SNDi).

SNDi -- our measure of street-network sprawl (disconnectedness)

The SNDi is a comprehensive measurement of “sprawl”. It captures:

A higher SNDi means less-connected streets – i.e., more sprawl. For the 10137 cities in our dataset, the average SNDi is 2.25, with half of the cities' SNDis falling between 1.08 and 3.25.

More information on the sprawl index can be found in these research papers:

To see the state of street-network sprawl across the globe, visit the sprawlmap.

San Pedro de las Colonias: city in Coahuila, Mexico

What exactly constitutes the spatial extent of the city? For these aggregations, we used the Global Human Settlement Layer Urban Center Database (GHS-UCDB) to define the boundaries of the city. These cities -- or urban centers -- cover areas that are densely populated and built-up, and so may extend beyond the spatial borders of these cities that we may be familiar with. The GHS area is shaded in blue.

View San Pedro de las Colonias, Mexico on the sprawlmap

Most recent snapshot: Taking into account the entire (i.e. aggregate) street network in San Pedro de las Colonias as of 2014, the overall level of street-network sprawl is 0.97, which is relatively well-connected.

Trends in street network construction: The SNDis of street construction for the respective time periods are nan, 0.93, 0.25 and 1.17. Data was not available in 1975.

Quantity of street network construction: The street network in San Pedro de las Colonias spans a total of 136 kilometers. It is dominated by roads constructed prior to 1975. These roads have an SNDi of nan, which is highly disconnected.

Effect on the aggregate network: New construction in each period adds to the total stock of streets, but does not change streets that have already been built. Therefore, it has a limited effect on the street network as a whole. The SNDis of the aggregate street network in the respective time periods are nan, 0.93, 0.87 and 0.97. Data was not available in 1975.

San Pedro de las Colonias and Coahuila do not follow the same trend in the disconnectivity of their street network constructions. There was not enough data from the city, while the SNDi of street constructions in Coahuila was at its lowest in 1976-1990.

How do development practices in San Pedro de las Colonias fare in comparison to others in Coahuila? Most recently in 2001-2014, street construction in San Pedro de las Colonias was the 7th-most disconnected out of the 8 cities in Coahuila. Its position in the ranks since 1975 has not changed. San Pedro de las Colonias ranked 7th in 1976-1990, 8th in 1991-2000 and 7th in 2001-2014. There was no ranking in 1975 due to unavailable data.

San Pedro de las Colonias and Mexico do not follow the same trend in the disconnectivity of their street network constructions. There was not enough data from the city, while the SNDi of street constructions in Mexico rose steadily.

How do development practices in San Pedro de las Colonias fare in comparison to others in Mexico? Most recently in 2001-2014, street construction in San Pedro de las Colonias was the 155th-most disconnected out of the 166 cities in Mexico. Its position in the ranks since 1975 has fallen; relative to other cities in Mexico, street construction in San Pedro de las Colonias has become more connected. San Pedro de las Colonias ranked 133rd in 1976-1990, 159th in 1991-2000 and 155th in 2001-2014. There was no ranking in 1975 due to unavailable data.

San Pedro de las Colonias and Coahuila do not follow the same trend in the disconnectivity of their aggregate street networks. There was not enough data from the city, while the SNDi of street constructions in Coahuila was at its lowest in 1976-1990.

To date, San Pedro de las Colonias is the 7th-most disconnected out of the 8 cities in Coahuila. Its position in the ranks since 1975 has not changed. San Pedro de las Colonias ranked 7th in 1976-1990, 7th in 1991-2000 and 7th in 2001-2014. There was no ranking in 1975 due to unavailable data.

San Pedro de las Colonias and Mexico do not follow the same trend in the disconnectivity of their aggregate street networks. There was not enough data from the city, while the SNDi of street constructions in Mexico rose steadily.

To date, San Pedro de las Colonias is the 142nd-most disconnected out of the 166 cities in Mexico. Its position in the ranks since 1975 has fallen; relative to other cities in Mexico, the street network in San Pedro de las Colonias has become more connected. San Pedro de las Colonias ranked 124th in 1976-1990, 138th in 1991-2000 and 142nd in 2001-2014. There was no ranking in 1975 due to unavailable data.

As of 2015, San Pedro de las Colonias had a built-up area of 5.74 square kilometers, and a population of 52003 people.

These are some other cities with approximately the same population: